On Many Subjects

If anyone has been following this blog for a long time, you will know that I have a MASSIVE love affair with coffee.

I LIKE coffee. A lot. I drink it every day.

I have discovered that most people do not like coffee. They drink it, but they don't like coffee. They add sweetener and creamer or (gag) flavored creamer, which is the worst. What people like is Hazelnut flavored Creamer with a little coffee flavor added.

Try this: Drink your coffee black to find out if you like it.

I have complained about the coffee at work time and time again because it has to be the most terrible coffee ever made. I work at a CULINARY school, so how can that be? Apparently they teach students to make good food, not good coffee. I complained to one of the chefs about the coffee and told him that I never drank the coffee at the school because it closely resembled mud in taste and texture. He said he thought it tasted pretty good. I must have given him a look of total incredulity. In a moment of inspiration, I asked him what he put in it and he told me he loads it up with sugar and Half and Half.
I told him he wasn't drinking coffee, at all, if he had to put all the extras in to be able to swallow it.

A few days later he stopped me in the corridor at the school. "You were right. I don't like coffee," he announced.

Me: I hope you weren't using the school's coffee as your standard.
Chef: Well, yes.
Me: I told you already it is terrible coffee.
Chef: Oh, so you did.
Me: You may like it if you get a decent cup.
Chef: Where would that be?

He carried a cup full of creamer and sugar in his hand and I suggested he pour it out. I had my travel mug with me, so I poured a bit of my coffee into his cup and he raised the cup to his lips. The smile that followed told me it I was correct in my assessment. The coffee at the school is generally terrible.

Chef: So, what is the secret?
Me: I grind my own beans in the morning. I don't use distilled water or anything special. I use a counter-top coffee maker. Sometimes, I use a French press, because that is the best cup. I like the French press when I am having an afternoon coffee.
Chef: OK. Sounds easy enough.

I watched as he went over to the coffee pot and filled his cup with the mud, sugar and cream.

Me: I thought you said you like good coffee.
Chef: I do, but until we get good coffee here at the school, I will drink my cup of cream and sugar with a little coffee flavoring added in for fun.